SNOW Alps 25-26 web - Flipbook - Page 95
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The high-balling, low-lying Whistler
ski life of Chelsea Handler
words by L E SL IE A N T HON Y | photogr aphy by P OBY
ar t work by JULIUS YODER
fashion st ylist SHIF TEH SHAHBA ZIAN
a s s i s t a n t s t y l i s t s A V A A Z I M I & D E M E T R I A W AT K I N S
Y
ou needn’t dig far into the appearances, interviews, or
prodigious multimedia output of Chelsea Handler to
uncover one thing: she loves skiing. Actually, two things:
she also loves being good at it.
Consider the latter a self-administered merit badge for
something many of us can relate to — pursuing and fulfilling a
desired personal objective regardless of other circumstances
in our lives. Though multitudinous and demanding, Handler’s
other “circumstances” have also proved useful as platforms
from which to wax poetic about what the sport means to her
and why she has established pied-à-terre in Whistler, British
Columbia, to conduct her snowy adventures.
But before a day on the hill with Handler, a brief primer.
Few corners of the American House of Entertainment
remain unpainted by the accomplished comedienne, host,
activist and author, whose brand of blunt, no-holds-barred
personal and cultural interrogation features in seven
consecutive The New York Times bestsellers, the ongoing
advice podcast Dear Chelsea, the 2007–2014 E! network’s latenight joint Chelsea Lately, and a super-sized Netflix catalogue
comprising the “Chelsea Handler Collection” — an überiquity
clearly reserved for entertainment royalty that includes a talk
show, groundbreaking docuseries, investigative documentary
and three stand-up specials. Tune in to any recent effort and
you’re likely to find an anecdote, story or testimonial about
skiing. Or a semiotic — like the cover of her latest book, I’ll Have
What She’s Having, on which Handler can be found, drink in
hand, flashing skin wrapped in little more than a white feather
boa, toque, and goggles.
Is she vibing ski bunny? Pretty much the opposite.
A rarified ski bum? Of a type.
That she’s enjoying herself? Absolutely.
Even if the ultimate goal was to be able to rip up the piste
and hold her own in the face of what mountains could throw
at her, Handler’s quest to be a proficient skier was still mostly
about Type-1 fun — skiing as a freewheeling vehicle for shared
laughs and camaraderie that fortuitously also channels both
physical health and vital sanity.
That Handler grokked the essence of ski culture early in her
pursuit is no surprise, and provided for yet another entry point.
“What attracted me was the vibe… and the escapism,” she says
on a Zoom call from her home in Los Angeles. “As a public
person, I’m always looking for a getaway where there aren’t a
lot of other public people. And skiing doesn’t typically attract a
huge celebrity crowd.”
Even when it does, it’s often a fair-weather thing — which
ironically is what got Handler re-interested in a less miserable
version of something she’d experienced as a child growing up in
New Jersey, where ski outings had been to small, cold, icy hills.
Performing at a spring comedy festival in the west, a friend
suggested skiing despite the pair not having any of the required
clothing. “He said, It’s 50 degrees out — just throw on jeans and
a vest,” she recalls. “So I did, and it was the first time I realized
skiing could be enjoyable, that the sun could be out and it didn't
have to be a field of ice.
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